5/5 ★ – DrippyHippy's review of Metro Exodus.

Bingeing bangers recently. Metro Exodus is a remarkable milestone when it comes to FPS games but where it really shines is its story and atmosphere. The metro series has always stood out in this department but Metro Exodus took it a step further especially since it made the jump from linear to open world storytelling (kinda). Not only that, the incredible graphics this game withholds significantly enhanced the atmosphere, realism, and immersion. And somehow, the horrific and hopeless world that exists within Metro Exodus manages to be so beautiful at the same time. Its gameplay is also something that isn't to go unnoticed considering I was hooked from the very beginning of the game through its extremely realistic approach that also managed to be engaging as all hell. One little detail that I appreciated was how well the weapons fitted with the setting/tone of the game. Now, whether you're fighting mutants, bears, wolves, bandits, through stealth or head on, you will always find massive amounts of enjoyment to be had due to this game's amazing gameplay. The characters and voice acting especially stood out to me. Every character is incredibly well written and their respective voice actors poured their heart and soul into them. And even though Artyom doesn't say a single word throughout the entire game, his actions resulted in him being one of my personal favorite video game protagonists. However, I only have a few minor gripes that I had with my play through. This one isn't necessarily the game's fault, but it still happened and is worth mentioning. About halfway through my playthrough, steam decided to be the good Samaritan that they are and corrupt my fucking save file. I lost around 3 hours of progress which isn't a lot when you really think about it but it still blew ass having to replay that 3 hours instead of progressing through the game. Again, this isn't the games fault so it wont really count, but it affected my overall experience nonetheless. But, there is one thing in the game that I did take issue with, that being its really slow and lackluster final act. I mean seriously, you'd think the final mission of a game like this would be very ambiguous but this one kinda let me down considering you really only fight a couple mutants and 5 fat ass gorilla things. But aside from that, it's also just really slow and tedious to get through at some points, But other than that, this game is a masterpiece. Overall, despite its lackluster final act, Metro Exodus manages to engross you in this haunting world it takes place in through its incredible storytelling and atmosphere, realistic and immersive gameplay, and its deep characters with outstanding voice performances. This game has managed to blow me away even after 5 years after its initial release and has easily stood the test of time. Since this game is basically on every platform known to man for a pretty cheap price (Physically & Digitally), I highly recommend checking this out.